dreams become routine
once rare rainbows
common as windows
like a tooth loose
inside the mouth
internal screams
echo loud

in a quarantined life
grinding whites
start migraines
muted response
hardens the heart
clanking bottles
sound like prison bars
the silence in between
really gets to you

in a quarantined life
frayed jeans drag along
a thousand-mile floor
back doing laps
on checkered tiles
down town centre aisles
trapped
confined
suffocated
undefined
chest tight
skull binding

fear the worst
speaking this verse
scratching thirty years
writing for the blind
passion resigns
a puzzle of likes
time with friends
feeling alive
only in the mind
county borders and timelines
have no end

in a quarantined life
there’s surprise
in a book spine
absorb the cover
with dry eyes
find the grey
between barcode lines
later yield
in a swirling field
birds of prey
define the day
finally
away

Body clock set to Vienna day trips,
walks atop the white cliffs of Dover,
avoiding sunburn in Roman forums -

only here it's flexed bare chests,
belly buttons pierce snail trail hair,
while tattoos sweat through skin.

Discount ***** hangs on booming breath,
headache-inducing marijuana stench
crawls up nostrils from inside pockets

like a chef advertising to the streets
via an air vent. Craving cartoon fantasy -
empathy in the world, even for humidity,

as we wait for a break in proceedings,
I pray the thunderstorms bring fresh relief.

Someone send me fifty cigarettes.
Keep me awake far past sunset.
Get the football on immediately
And make it a fiery affair.
Drown out this mop and bucket mouth.
Find me a guitar string to silence a theatre.
Strum all the chords in unison.
Whisper powerfully into the crowd's ear
About the journey to solar eclipse bliss.
Ignore the scattered failures,
Stamps on lamp-posts,
Brash stickers of the past,
Cornered in all that success.
Distraction from the looming task ahead.
Let the teaming rain return to my brain,
Where pie survives in cement,
Jackdaws squawk and talk of walks
Across the kissing couple hills
Instead of pizza orders set for ten.
Counting stock with matching socks.
Clocks are the enemy these days.
But they may be my best friend.

An army of square lights on the ceiling.
My destiny is sandwich with no filling.
Two thin slices. Side-by-side. Both white.
I've longed to taste tapas my whole life.
Even to dip my bread in egg would suffice.

Well, Christ, I'll take a trip to the bakery!
A crusty loaf would remain in the teeth
and granary could easily plant a seed.

En route in the street, I spot a biblical treat.
It's a mouthful from the Mahershalalhashbaz
company. They rebranded after a decade
selling acclaimed hand-made paintings.
In dense writing was their message to me...

Immerse my head in the still night air of June,
where the moonlight is hidden behind a tree.

Born 30 days apart in the early 90's,
musical fan and blue dragon holder,
you fought parental disapproval to
fulfill your dreams on the big-screen.

South Korea to renowned global acclaim,
Jessica's Jingle infected Western culture.
And yet your name remains underground
in towns and cities throughout this land.

Park So-dam. I write as my ink dries up and
the world scratches my head with a coin.
If I ever escape the fate of my own family,
I'll start a fan club for you in Chicago, Illinois.

The kind of day that urges you to observe.
Learn what time-kissed Victorian bricks exist,
drink and reminisce above the high street.

Soar for a while, before hooked back to ground.
Our Member of Parliament is storming down
that beloved stretch of patterned cement.

Stand fully charged, a magnet waiting for contact.
Lenses in my sockets analyse wicked entourage,
while my options flick through a rolodex of responses.

An influx of questions, injustice and inquiries. Like
all those stories stuck in permanent sun dawn,
meaning there's always hope but never warmth.

Polished black shoes now by the ironic news-
agents. I contemplate resorting to expletives
but fear the irrelevance of a rampaging elephant.

Among the fantasy fireworks, my sparkler drowns.
A rebellious town resident repelled without glance.
Reduced to the blue rosette on that expensive lapel.